Northern Pintail

With delicate chocolate-brown heads and characteristically pointed tails, the Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) is the duck species I consider to be the most elegant.  Northern Pintails assemble in freshwater wetlands across the Great Central Valley during the winter months, and are usually one of the first species to arrive in great numbers, perhaps second only to Northern Shovelers.  Northern Pintails are quite common birds across North America, Europe and Asia and there's a good chance that you will encounter them on any trip to a Central Valley wetland or wildlife refuge between October and March.  (Though they do reside in the valley year-round and a few even breed here - I'm not sure where! - their numbers are highest in the winter when augmented by migrants from the far north.)


The summer breeding range of the Northern Pintail covers much of Canada (especially in the west) and Alaska, as well as northerly states such as Montana and the Dakotas.  Their preferred habitat is open, with low vegetation and wetlands, including tundra, prairie and farmland.  Nests of the Northern Pintail consist of shallow scrapes on the ground, concealed by grasses or brush and lined with downy feathers; typically they nest a considerable distance from the water (as much as half a mile).


Pintails are dabbling ducks (as opposed to diving ducks), filter feeding at the surface and turning tail-end-up in shallow water in search of food.  Plant matter such as weeds and seeds, as well as aquatic insects, mollusks and crustaceans make up the bulk of their diet. 


Since the 1960's, numbers of Northern Pintails have declined by 72% across their range, earning them the distinction of "Common Bird in Steep Decline."  Threats may include drought in their northern breeding range and, as always, habitat loss.


Read more here: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Pintail/id 
and here: http://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/northern-pintail

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